For the sake of argument, let's assume that human beings are like programmable Lemmings that don't really know anything. They've recently climbed down from the trees and are faced with resource scarcity for the first time ever. Thus, Capitalism does not already exist, it needs to be somehow created... If people want it to exist, that is.

I guess "resource scarcity" might be one prerequisite. If everything is abundant and easily available, there's no real need for trade, is there?

And I guess the idea of Capitalism and wanting Capitalism to exist might be other requirements. The humans might proclaim in Modern English: "hey, let's trade stuff!"


What other requirements are there, if any? And why might they be needed?